Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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86. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions being taken to ensure that hairdressers, barbers and beauty and nail salons are complying with public health guidelines regarding Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18863/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The national Return to Work Safely Protocol should be used by all workplaces, including hairdressers, barbers and beauty and nail salons, to adapt their workplace procedures and practices to comply fully with the COVID-19 related public health protection measures identified as necessary by the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health. The Protocol operates in parallel with existing workplace health and safety statutory requirements. The Protocol sets out in very clear terms for employers and workers in all business sectors the steps that they must take on an ongoing basis.  

I would emphasise that, in the first instance, employers and workers have a joint responsibility for adhering to the procedures and practices in the Protocol which are designed to protect the health and safety of all concerned.  

The Health and Safety Authority is the lead agency tasked with monitoring adherence to the Protocol. The inspectorate of the Health and Safety Authority is being supplemented significantly by deploying other inspectors from across the system. These resources are being drawn from the Workplace Relations Commission, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the cohort of Environmental Health Officers. This has resulted in approximately an additional 500 inspectors checking compliance with the Protocol as part of their normal workplace inspection programme across all business sectors.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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87. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to publish specific guidelines for the reopening of pubs; when he last met with representatives of an organisation (details supplied); the supports available to pubs which have been unable to reopen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18925/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland’s pubs are a valued part of the nation’s tourism industry and Fáilte Ireland is on hand to help the sector to successfully navigate a smooth return to business.

For pub owners planning to resume trading in Phase 4 of our Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business, now is the time to put essential strategies in place to deal with the challenges to come. There are many factors for pubs to consider when preparing to re-open – from practical health and safety concerns to effective marketing and communication plans.

Fáilte Ireland’s suite of supports have been specifically tailored towards the bar sector, to ensure businesses can prepare to reopen safely. Fáilte Ireland provides a range of guidance on health and safety, financial recovery, marketing advice and more, with all resources updated constantly. Fáilte Ireland has consulted the industry to develop this set of detailed and practical guidelines to prepare pubs to re-open safely. All of the principles in these guidelines are underpinned by advice made available from the HSA, HSE, FSAI, WHO?and other?relevant bodies.  

The Fáilte Ireland operational guidelines for reopening of pubs are available on its website at: . These guidelines will be regularly updated in line with Government public health advice as and when this advice evolves.?

The National Return to Work Safely Protocol is a useful guide for businesses in making their assessments and adapting their workplace procedures and practices to comply fully with the COVID-19 related public health protection measures. It sets out in very clear terms for employers and employees the steps that they must take firstly before a workplace reopens, and then while it continues to operate. The Protocol is available at . It operates in parallel with existing workplace health and safety statutory requirements and will assist employers to carry out a full risk assessment in relation to their business operations.

The Health and Safety Authority, which is an agency of my Department, is the lead agency in overseeing compliance with the National Return to Work Safely Protocol in the workplace. If employers or employees need further guidance on the Protocol, the HSA Helpline can be contacted at 1890 289 389 or wcu@hsa.ie.

The Health and Safety Authority has also developed a range of checklists and templates which are available on its website (www.hsa.ie) for use by employers, workers and worker representatives, and further material is being developed.

While the lead engagement with the pub sector is through Fáilte Ireland and the Minister for Tourism, my predecessor as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, T.D. met with the representative bodies for the sector, as has the Secretary General of my Department, and the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English, T.D., who met representatives of the sector on 16 July last.

On Thursday 23 July last we announced the July Stimulus Package, a substantial financial package to stimulate our economy worth more than €5 billion, with an additional €2 billion in loan guarantees. It is bigger in scale than most budgets and will be deployed at speed.

The July Stimulus package is designed to help businesses to open, to help those that are already open to stay open, to get staff back to work and for those who cannot go back to their old jobs, there are new opportunities. These new measures are in addition to those already announced since the onset of the Global Pandemic that were open to those in the hospitality and pub sectors including the Temporary Wage Subsidy, low cost loans and commercial rates waivers.

Significantly for the hospitality and pub sector to support viable businesses and jobs, including new hires, we have extended the wage subsidy scheme, which will run until the end of March 2021 and will be open to firms that do not currently participate and will be open to workers like seasonal workers, who were not previously included. We are also giving companies extra assistance to reopen and stay open through an enhanced Restart grant which is available to more firms and is more generous. We are providing more and cheaper loan finance through MicroFinance Ireland, SBCI and the new €2bn Credit Guarantee Scheme. We have also announced a six month reduction in VAT from 23% to 21%, together with a range of additional measures designed to stimulate domestic demand.  Businesses affected by COVID-19 will able to delay payment of their PAYE and VAT debts in part of in full for a set period with no interest or penalties

Furthermore, to assist the badly impacted hospitality and tourism sectors, a new Stay and Spend Incentive will see any taxpayer spending over €625, on accommodation, food and non-alcoholic drinks, between October 2020 and April 2021, able to claim back €125 through a tax credit.  It is anticipated that whilst these hospitality supports are not directly targeted at the on-trade drinks sector, a boost to the hospitality sector in general will have spill over benefits for pubs.

Further information on these, along with the full list of actions within the July Stimulus and how to avail of them can be found at www.gov.ie/jobsstimulus.

I have underlined that in developing the stimulus package, we must look ahead to ensuring economic recovery. The National Economic Plan, to be developed in parallel with the next Budget, will be crucial in this respect. It will go beyond the issue of business supports and set out a range of actions to be developed across Government to realise economic recovery.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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88. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is considering changes to employment permits in view of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18949/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The employment permits system is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages, however, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one.

The system is, by design, vacancy led and managed through the operation of the critical skills and ineligible occupations lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for consideration for an employment permit.  As demand grows or recedes, the orientation of economic migration is adjusted accordingly through changes to these lists which are subject to twice yearly evidenced based reviews. 

These reviews are guided by research undertaken by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) and the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU) in SOLAS, a public consultation process, input from the relevant Government Departments and the Economic Migration Inter-Departmental Group, chaired by the Department. Account is also taken of contextual factors such as Brexit and , in the current context, COVID 19.  

Clearly the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to severely impact our economy, will cause us to look closely at the evolving challenges that present in the labour market for some time to come.  Changes to the employment permit regime will be based on the evidence, submissions received, consultation with key stakeholders and the input of the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group. 

The first occupation list review of 2020 is almost finalised, with the second due to commence before the end of August with the announcement of the public consultation phase.  

The Department has implemented a COVID-19 contingency plan to ensure that the Employment Permit system continues to operate.  With effect from Monday 30th March, the Department has implemented remote working arrangements for staff and has adjusted operations to, inter alia, provide for the acceptance of electronic/scanned documents. My Department has also agreed with Immigration Service Delivery, Department of Justice and Equality, as a temporary measure, soft copy arrangements for issuing employment permits.

Since this crisis began, the  Department has been prioritising the processing of employment permit applications for medical personnel on a daily basis. and since mid-March, this has resulted in 2,799 employment permits issuing to medical personnel. 

Full details on the Employment Permits contingency arrangements are available at the following link -

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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89. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will grant a work permit to a person (details supplied) in view of their frontline role; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18950/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market.  The system is intended to act as a conduit for key skills which are required to develop enterprise in the State for the benefit of our economy, while simultaneously protecting the balance of the labour market.  The system is, by design, vacancy led and driven by the changing needs of the labour market, expanding and contracting in tandem with its inherent fluctuations.

The system is managed through the operation of the critical skills and ineligible occupations lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for consideration for an employment permit.  The occupations lists are subject to twice-yearly review which is predicated on a formalised and evidence-based process and involves consideration of the research undertaken by the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (Solas), the Expert Group of Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), the National Skills Council, and input by relevant Government Departments in addition to the public consultation phase.  Account is also taken of contextual factors such as Brexit and in the current context COVID 19. The views and guidance of the Interdepartmental Group on Economic Migration Policy, chaired by this Department, are also an important part of the decision-making process.

Currently the occupation of physiotherapist is ineligible for an employment permit. In order to have an occupation considered for removal from the ineligible list, there needs to be a clear demonstration that recruitment difficulties are solely due to shortages across the EEA and not to other factors such as employment terms and conditions.  A detailed evidence-based business case needs to be submitted to the lead policy Government Department, in this instance the Department of Health, and this Department for review and consideration.

The first occupation list review of 2020 is almost finalised, with the second due to commence in the coming weeks with the announcement of the public consultation phase. Sector representatives will  have an opportunity to make an evidenced based submission to seek the removal of the occupation of physiotherapist from the ineligible list in this review.